Commercial Strategy Manager: Sunbet (Sandton) at Sun International

Job Purpose

• The Commercial Strategy Manager will be responsible for identifying, evaluate and develop strategic growth opportunities across existing and new markets within the online gaming operation through market intelligence, feasibility assessments, business case development, and expansion planning.
• The role provides data-driven insights, implementation frameworks, and selective deal support to enable commercially viable, operationally feasible, and financially sustainable decisions, and supports execution through implementation planning and readiness activities.

Job Scope:

• Develop and maintain a deep understanding of the online gaming industry, market dynamics, customer behaviour, competitive landscape, and regulatory environment
• Conduct market research and analysis to assess SunBet’s competitive position and identify opportunities for growth across existing and new markets, including monitoring emerging trends, technologies, and market shifts
• Lead commercial, operational and regulatory feasibility studies for new markets, products, partnerships, and strategic initiatives
• Develop business cases, financial cases, scenario analyses, and investment proposals to support decision-making, including evaluation of ROI, profitability, sustainability, and market attractiveness
• Conduct due diligence and assess market entry requirements, competitive positioning, operational readiness, and regulatory feasibility across African and international markets
• Develop market entry frameworks, implementation roadmaps, execution plans, and operational readiness plans for approved initiatives
• Drive execution and implementation of approved expansion initiatives, ensuring delivery against scope, timelines, governance requirements, and expected business outcomes
• Oversee business readiness activities, including definition of operational, technology, compliance, and resource requirements to enable successful implementation
• Map required operating models, business processes, and enabling technologies to support growth initiatives and improve commercial and customer outcomes
• Establish success measures, governance frameworks, performance metrics, and implementation milestones for all approved initiatives
• Collaborate with Operations, Product, Technology, Compliance, Finance, and Business Development teams to validate assumptions, evaluate opportunities, and ensure successful execution readiness
• Lead investigations, special projects, and cross-functional initiatives aligned to business growth objectives
• Support and participate in select commercial negotiations and deal structuring for strategic partnerships and market entry opportunities
• Build and maintain relationships with internal stakeholders, industry participants, suppliers, and external advisors to support opportunity identification, execution, and market intelligence
• Assess regulatory, licensing, compliance, and risk requirements associated with expansion initiatives, ensuring alignment with governance frameworks and organisational risk appetite
• Support readiness planning related to gaming legislation, consumer protection, privacy, anti-bribery, and other applicable regulatory frameworks
• Monitor and evaluate approved initiatives against business case assumptions, tracking performance, ROI, and realised benefits, and documenting lessons learned for continuous improvement
• Assess effectiveness of strategic partnerships and expansion initiatives against commercial and operational objectives
• Communicate insights, recommendations, implementation progress, and post-implementation outcomes to executive leadership and governance forums
• Provide people leadership, including performance management, coaching, work allocation and capability development to support high-quality delivery of market intelligence and execution activities

Requirements

Qualification:

• Bachelor's degree in Business Management, Commerce, Economics, Finance, Strategy, Operations Management or a related field
• MBA Preferred
• Relevant project management, business analysis or strategic planning certification advantageous

Experience:

• 10-12 years' experience in strategy, business planning, commercial analysis, market intelligence, operations analytics, consulting, project management or a related field
• Experience developing business cases, feasibility studies and investment proposals
• Experience conducting market research, competitor analysis and opportunity assessments
• Experience evaluating operational, commercial and regulatory implications of new business initiatives
• Experience within online gaming, betting, digital entertainment, financial services, technology or similarly regulated industries advantageous
• Experience supporting market expansion, new product launches or strategic growth initiatives advantageous

Behavioural Competencies:

• Strategic Thinking
• Analytical Thinking
• Commercial Acumen
• Problem Solving
• Stakeholder Engagement & Influencing
• Communication
• Results Orientation
• Initiative & Accountability

Technical Competencies:

• Market Intelligence & Competitive Analysis
• Business Case Development
• Financial & Commercial Analysis
• Strategic Planning
• Market Expansion & Opportunity Assessment
• Project Planning & Coordination
• Risk Assessment & Due Diligence
• Regulatory & Compliance Knowledge
• People Management